In the beginning...

Well, the Free-moN bug has bitten.

Credit (blame?) goes to Steve Williams and the Silicon Valley Free-moN group for doing such excellent work on their own modules and putting on some great shows. Seems like every time I go to a local train gig, like a LDSIG meet or the x2011 NMRA convention, I end up hanging around these great dudes & their modules and wishing I had one to contribute. So time to get busy!

Even though the group is an hour away from my part of the Bay, I just had to start building something Free-moN, not just because of Steven and the groovy group, but because Free-moN is such a fab deal: single mainline, 50" layout height, emphasis on prototypical scenes and ops, and very few "standards"--really just the track (code 55), wiring, and endplates!

Anything else is pretty much up to you!

You could build a 20' curved yard, divided up into five 4' sections (for transport), and, as long as the endplate on the far left & far right are Free-moN, you're good to go! Which means you could take a section of your "home" layout, attach 6" "adaptor" sections on each end, and then participate in a Free-moN event.

Seems like the best of all possible N-finite worlds!

Originally I designed a groovy 6'x6' under-&-over loop module based on the WP Feather River Route, but that would have necessitated cleaning out more of the garage than I could easily do, and then the Silicon Valley Free-moN group got an invite to show in early April, so that set the deadline!

Ever since reading John Armstrong's Track Planning for Realistic Operations I've been intrigued by his drawing of a "shoofly" (page 123, 3rd ed.). It's a simple scene of track diverted over a fill while a crew repaired / rebuilt a bridge over a small stream, yet contained the possibility of multiple "stories" within the scene (not only the work on the rails, but the land just outside of railroad property: orchards, farms, roads, forests, etc.)

So I designed a 2'x6' "Shoofly" module:



Bent at 30 degrees to add interest & show-layout possibilities, and it eases the curves on the diverted track (Free-moN standards: 22" radius curve minimum).

Best of all, I might get it done in the month & a half before the show!

The 24"x6" endplates are 3/4" birch plywood, but I ripped the rest of the 4"-tall frames from 1/2" sanded ply "handy panels" I had laying around for a different project. (The 2" pink foam will take up the other 2").

A great investment for benchwork and all types of home-improvement projects is the mitre/chopsaw:



Not only rotates to any angle, but also cuts at a bevel, which came in handy for the 15 deg cuts where the two sections come together.

Wood glue, drywall screws, and some right-angle clamps help put the frame together:



[Notice the dropcloth over the Mt. Coffin & Columbia River layout: I learned the hard way last time I cut wood in the garage that sawdust goes EVERYWHERE! I also tried to do all the cutting before my wife came back, but it didn't happen, and luckily I remembered to take all the laundry inside before starting!]

Apparently ACE has an adjustable-angle clamp, but was way out of stock, so I just built all the right angle stuff and then put the 15 deg board on last, holding the boards in place with my hand while I drilled the pilot holes. Turnout out fine:



About right now, you more experienced woodworkers are noticing a few things I forgot to do before assembling the frame (what can I say, I am excited!), but I'll show you that it's all ok in the next post   

Bench Warmer

As the 1/2" ply is a wee thin, I braced it with some glued& screwed triangles:



So I assembled the frame and supports before:
1) drilling holes for the bolts that connect the two sections
2) drilling a hole for the wires to pass between the two sections
3) drilling holes for the 2"x2" legs
4) cutting out the holes for the NCE UTP panels
5) routering the endplate "mouths" for the wires

D'oh!

And, as it turns out, the space between the frame supports wasn't wide enough to allow a drill in to do all of that.

D'oh!

Thank goodness for this little miricle: The "Orbiter"!




Was able to get all my legs & wire holes in after framing. Very handy, that Orbiter!

The main track bus and accessory bus need to be 12 gauge wire and have A nderson Powerpole connectors at the endplates.
Those Anderson connectors are very cool, but a pain to crimp to stay on.
Until I realized that solder worked better.

So got frame, wiring, legs done:



About that white foamcore sheet:
Turns out that 2" pink foam isn't 2": it's about 1 7/8" (dimensional foam?)
So I was short coming up to the 6" endplate.
I thought about screwing & gluing a 1/8" masonite plate on top of the frame (upon which I'd attach the foam), but dang that was heavy.
So I got some 3/16" Elmer's foamcore from Target and laid that down with some caulk.
Pretty rigid stuff.

The Pink foam will lay on top, and the foamcore will provide a base for the Bullfrog turnout control I'll be trying on this module.

But tonight, the caulk is curing the foamcore to the frame, with the help of a model railroader's favorite tools: whatever weights available.



Will our hero get his module done in time for the show?
Will he make more messy mistakes while he man-handles his module into being?
Will he stop refering to himself in the third person?

The answer: Oh, yeah.

Will post updates soon.
Any / all feedback & suggestions appreciated!
Thanks for looking.   

Get the Flock Outta Here!

What's great about it is that you can have a working scene and a bullet-proof mainline at the same time.
As well as a place for your crane & camp cars

There's only one turnout (which could be a dummy if you wanted), and the yellow "slow order" signs add operational interest.

Gonna need some cows & lots of static grass for this one

Good thing I just made "The Banananator":



Haven't done farmland yet, so this will be fun!   

OH BOY, M.C., another mini layout!!!

I've been following and enjoying your work on the other two micro layouts that you made, I can't wait to see what you do with this one.

Shoefly

These really are interesting aspects of railroading and don't get modeled enough. This is going to be a fun thread to watch.\

Roy

Is that a homemade static grass applicator?

Is that a homemade static grass applicator? I have been wanting buy an applicator but price is very prohibitive.

If yours is homemade would you mind sharing how you built it?

Thanks,

Andrew

This is a macro-layout for me

Thanks, Russ & Roy.

Russ: funny you should mention the other "microlayouts", because this module (at 2'x6'ish) is the largest "layout" I have right now, almost as big as the other two layout combined

Andrew:  I built "The Banananator" following  Kevin Rowbotham's excellent article in the Mar/April 2010 Model Railroad Hobbyist.

The only differences is that I used 1 1/2" PVC pipe instead of ABS and used a PVC plug to hold the container against the coupler:

The lip on the plug was enough for the gorillaglue (CA didn't work on the type of plastic container I used), and I did put a plasic washer on top to reinforce the "flock jar" bottom.

The only other difference is that I used a lighted rocker switch instead of a toggle and separate LED:

I tried it out on a test diorama and it flocked the heck outta the area:

Being used to the wimpier flyswatter I wasn't prepared for the volume, so now I have to refine my technique with the new tool.  Looking forward to it!

(I painted it yellow so I'd be able to find it easily in the mess of tools I have.  Plus I had yellow enamel spray paint around.  Once it was yellow, I couldn't resist spraying the cap and lid black to banana-ize it )

Andrew, Kevin Rowbotham did two articles on DIY applicators.

March 2010 MRH page 93.  "STATIC GRASS APPLICATORS - TIMES 3"

Sept 2011 MRH page 67.  "STATIC GRASS APPLICATOR UPDATE"

Tickled Pink (foam)

Thanks for all the encouragement & well wishes: we'll see if I can do "Module in a Month"

The foamcore / caulk dried pretty quick and made a nice base.
The foamcore is the Elmer's stuff you can get at Target: pretty cheap and stonger than some artstore foamcore I looked at (no Gatorboard around here, otherwise I'd snag that up quick). It's also 3/16", which makes my 1 7/8" pink foam stick up a little over the endplate, but a little sanding will do the job.

Spread caulk over the foamcore and then placed the pink foam:



I intentionally left it a little long on both sides where the sections butt up, so I can sand it to a good fit later.

Attaching foam to foam over a large area takes a long time to cure (no air!), so I'm not planning on carving until the weekend or next week.
Tomorrow I'll take off the weights and clamps and start laying out the track & maybe caulk down the cork.
But today I built a #6 turnout as well as the Bullfrog I'm trying out for turnout control:



The Bullfrog was pretty easy to put together: very well designed!
And has a switch to power the frog. Not bad for $6!
I didn't get the control rods / knobs ( they even have a set up for Free-mo modules!) because I figure I can make my own.

I'm going to have to reinforce the bottom of the foamcore with a sheet of styrene and gorillaglue to get the firm base the Bullfrog needs, though.
And I seem to have placed a crossbrace right at the area I have the one turnout (D'oh!), so I'm hoping the Bullfrog's "small footprint" works (the wire is on one side, so it shouldn't be a problem).

Will be fun to start laying cork & track soon!
Thanks for looking.   

shoo fly module

Your modeling is incredible sir. I have enjoyed following your progress. I was really looking forward to the coal mine on the back side of mt. coffin and now you have moved on to another project. I guess I will have to wait but I dont mind the detour. Your work is great.

Gettin' corked

NJWG:  "I don't mind the detour," especially since the shoofly is a detour
Thanks, and sorry about not getting to finish Mt. Coffin & Columbia River right away.
I do very much want to get that done, but the excitement of Free-moN and the deadline of the show in April is sweeping me along.  My goal for Mt. Coffin is to be done by summer so I can take a bunch of photos, write some articles, and then get rid of it to start the next "real" layout, so we'll see.

Here's a shot of the Anderson Powerpole connectors:



[That's not a gang tattoo or snake bite on my right thumb, just a benchwork-building battle scar]

In Free-moN, the track bus wires have the red connectors stacked vertically and following the "Left Over" rule: looking from the end of the module the left track bus is over the right.
The accessory bus connectors are black and joined side-by-side.
At first I was crimping the inserts, but they were slipping out.
Took me 6-8 tries before I realized I should just solder them.
(D'oh!)

After drawing in the main and laying down cork, I played around with some track until the shoofly had decent curves and distance from the main:



Didn't want a big arcing loopy thing, but also didn't want it too close to the main.
N scale cork roadbed, like N scale Caboose groundthrows and so many other N scale things, seem to be sized more for HO than N, so I trimmed off a little less than 1/8" from both inner sides to narrow it down just a bit.

In the above photo you can see some of my references: Armstrong's drawing on the right and a photo of a two-track shoofly around a four-track main that Chris333 shared.
Lots of little details will make this pretty cool.

To transition from the main down to the temp siding for the work train & crew I sanded down into the foam to create the grade and then laid a short section of cork into that:



A bit of sanding tomorrow will smooth the cork out.

So here it stands tonight as the caulk cures:



Looks a bit boring, but that's because it's flat and it looks more like a passing siding.
The main will have track taken up around the start of the shoofly, effectively isolating it, and all the scenery will be carved out of the foam.
The stream will be around where the UTP panel is, so there'll be about a 9" section of that main missing.

I also want the main and the shoofly track to be slightly different, with the main older and the shoofly newer, so I need to figure out how to represent that.
Was thinking maybe having the main a basecoat of grimy black with the Free-moN standard grey ballast while the shoofly is rail/tie brown on the dirt bulwark, but I'm definitely open to suggestions.

Tomorrow, while my wife & daughter are at Japanese school in SF, my son & I will embark on Quest For Dirt: the stuff that's around here that I used for Mt. Coffin & Columbia River is a little dark. The perfect dirt is actually just across the street right next to the BART tracks, but I'm not climbing that barbed-wire fence to get it.
Hopefully there will be some good tannish dirt at some local parks, so we can scoop dirt between games of tag and frisbee (supposed to be another 70 deg "winter" day: gotta love California!)

Comments and suggestions always appreciated.
Thanks for looking & reading.   

Too much fun

M.C., it would appear that you're having too much fun. Certainly something must be done to stop this!

This looks like a great project - I've stared at the exact same scene in the book many times, using it in a module is a perfect idea (it seems to....temporary for a permanent layout).

Looking forward to your pasture scene, and the grass layin'.  What length static grass do you think you'll use? I find 6mm almost too short for HO for a wild field and uncontrolled growth, but that might be perfect for N. Some of the pasture fabric I've seen looks really good, it provides the image of "spotty-ness" that looks right from the un-edible (to a cow) parts of the pasture. A bit out of scale in most cases, but looks right to the eye. I wonder if those might work in this case for you?

Biggest difference between the shoefly and old track-ties.

The rails would not change that much unless the shoefly has been in service long enough that the original rails had a chance to pick up some surface rust.  I suspect that the railroad would be anxious to get the mainline repaired asap so the mainline track would probably have been ripped out the day after the shoefly when into service.  The original ties would probably be somewhat weathered, whereas the shoefly would have brand new ties.  The other thing is that there would be a reason for a shoefly.  Either an earthquake cause the track to shift or in the case of Tehachapi the earthquake caused a tunnel to collapse, or flood caused the roadbed and dirt fill to wash out from under the mainline.  It would need to be something big enough and serious enough that a shoefly was required rather than just shutting down the line for a few days to repair the damage.  If the damage was minor enough to be repaired in slightly more time than it would take to build the shoefly, the railroad would just do a repair to the mainline. 

modern prototype practice

NS used a very similar bypass (double track, no spur for camp cars) in Greensboro, NC a few years back while a new interstate highway was being built beneath the track.  I seem to recall that it was in use for a few months.

What NS did (and I have no idea if this was common practice through the years or not, but somehow I suspect so) was to build the temporary track and bridge, the cut the main lines and pull the track over and reconnect it to the new route, much like laying flex-track.  Thus the old main line rails and ties were cut away and moved, rather than looking like a turnout.

I enjoyed seeing something different, and there wasn't a lot of pressure to finish in a hurry, since the speed restriction over the shoo-fly was only 50 mph, compared to 60 for our fastest trains (and 79 for Amtrak).  For most of us, we never even slowed down since the typical freight train speed is either 45 or 50 anyway.

Thanks, Ken.

 I forgot that there is really no reason to put a switch on either end of a shoefly, the railroad is going to remove the damaged rails anyway, so they just cut them on either end of the track that is being bypassed and run the shoefly around the damaged track to be replaced.

Not just for damage

A shoo-fly would not just be used for repairing damage.  As in the example I gave above, it would also be used when building a new bridge in place of an old one.  I've also seen railroads simply build a new track right beside the old one - sort of a permanent shoo-fly.

That gives some flexibility in scenery and theme here.  The RR could be working on repairing damage to a bridge caused by a boat or vehicle underneath, or perhaps cleaning up a rock/mud slide, a washout, or simply upgrading a bridge.  an even larger shoo-fly would be used during tunnel construction or repair.

Come to think of it, I wonder if a shoo-fly would have been used during new construction, in order to get a new track open quickly while taking time to build a quality bridge? In fact, I know it would - I've seen the classic photo taking during construction of the transcontinental railroad, and it clearly shows exactly that.

I think they were also used in tunnel construction.

"Come to think of it, I wonder if a shoo-fly would have been used during new construction, in order to get a new track open quickly while taking time to build a quality bridge? In fact, I know it would - I've seen the classic photo taking during construction of the transcontinental railroad, and it clearly shows exactly that."

I think the railroad would also use a shoefly to go around a mountain where they were going to put in a tunnel if the tunnel was long enough to be drilled or blasted from both ends at once.  That way they could run supplies around the mountain to the other side for the builders.

Thanks

Thanks for all the info.

In this scene they're upgrading the bridge: taking out a wooden trestle and installing concrete abutments for a deck girder.  Maybe taking the opportunity to reballast the approach as well.

I was wondering more about the specific colors of the ties and rails: I'm assuming that the older mainline ties and rails would be darker & weathered while the shoofly ties and rails would be browner.

Old rails probably show a bit of surface rust on top.

The rails would have more rust on the sides.  The old ties would probably have weathered to a grey.  The new rails would probably be flat black, color of steel from the mill with the tops of the rails polished after the first train ran through.

Stuck (as in track to foam)

Scarpia: I just ordered a variety of static grasses from Scenic Express, including 4mm, 6mm grasses & some mix blends (I already have some WS short stuff).
Also going to try their supertrees (don't have very good tree weeds growing around here).
It'll be fun to experiment (on my test diorama first, of course!)

Thanks for the info, Russ.  It'll be fun to weather and try to super-detail the rails and ties (haven't bothered on previous layouts), or at least get the tracks distinct and with some individualized ties.

So, today:
With the cork caulked down & sanded, I gorillaglued four pc board ties to the ends of the module:



I had soaked the cork & endplate area with woodglue, so that was rocksolid, and with the gorillaglue that track wasn't going anywhere anytime soon.
Seems the pc board ties drifted a little to the right under the weight while curing: the black marks are the actual track centerline (nothing some cosmetic surgery can't fix way later).

I also spray-painted the area that will be under the turnout Floquil grimy black: as Floquil is a solvent-based paint and will attack the foam, I taped off the area around the cork.
Even still, you can see a little hole on the left reminiscent of the affect of the alien's drool through the Nostromo's deckplates.

Also drilled 1/8" holes for the Bullfrog throwbar actuator rod as well as for the wire to power the frog.
Probably should have soldered the frog wire before laying the track (D'oh!), but it'll work out fine.

Laid down some caulk, but left some space on either side of the gap between the sections to lay down some gorillaglue:



[The section line is at the 11 o'clock position]

I love gorillaglue (must be the funkey monkey in me).

Tacked everything down with T-pins, got everything aligned (thank goodness for caulk having a long working time!), and then soldered the ends:



I had already sanded the cork flush with the endplate.
The rails stick out about 1/16", and I'll carefully file or dremel those later after everything's cured.
I really hope it matches up to the other modules.

So all of the operational track is down and the caulk is curing:



[the weights are holding down the section being gorillaglued at the section seem]

I probably won't lay down the mainline track until I carve out the stream and figure out how "built" I want the abutments.
(Right now I'm leaning towards one done and the wood frame being taken down while the other is still encased).

Also, my son & I had a successful Quest For Dirt--found primo tannish dirt right across the street from our LHS!--so we baked some while playing Monopoly, sifted it, so I'll see how it looks soon on a test diorama.

But tomorrow I'll install the Bullfrog for the turnout, drop some feeders to the bus, and hopeful have some trains (or a train) running by the end of the day.
(too bad the only place they can go is a 666 scale-foot drop to the concrete)

Thanks for looking.   

Wired & Running!

So track is caulked, cured & secured to the roadbed.
I dropped in the feeder wires, and managed to sneak the frog wire next to the guard rail:



Doubt anyone will see it in a couple weeks.
Test car rolls through smooth everywhere.

Went to cut the rails where the two sections meet and found out why you should wear safety glasses:



The thin Dedeco cutting disc grabbed some gorillaglue I guess.
The other part bounced off my forehead (no cut or bleeding).
I wear glasses anyway, but next time I think I'll slip some safety goggles over them.

The Dedeco discs are fragile, but do give a nice thin cut:



See also the isolation gaps on the frog in the first picture.

So I wired everything up using suitcase connectors for the feeders to the bus.
Also installed & wired the Bullfrog:



Everything worked great until the frog wasn't getting power in only one direction.
Took awhile with the multimeter to figure out that one of the suitcase connectors failed.
Changed it & everything was ready to roll.
Which means: TRAINS!

//www.youtube.com/embed/TcawDLz5I8k?wmode=opaque

Time to get serious about scenicking!
Thanks for looking.   

Shoo Fly Free-Mo

Have enjoyed this very much. I to have been bitten by the Free-Mo bug in HO and am a member of "The Western Reserve Free-Mo" group in northern Ohio. I have two modules and in the second that has a siding for a lumber yard used the "Bull Frog" machine. I used the Free-Mo setup and it worked fine. Looking forward to more information on your "Shoo-Fly" project.

Thanks

Wayne

Sneaking in more layout

Thanks, Wayne: glad to hear the Bullfrogs are good for Free-mo!
(I still need to jerry-rig some actuator rods and knobs under the module)

So now I have an operating Free-moN module, albeit a "pinkfoam prairie".
While waiting for the caulk under the foam to fully cure (takes awhile as there's no air down there), I set about constructing a 4"x24" detachable extension so I can "stage" as well as have room to use the siding:



All built outta scrap wood, and will just clamp on (though I may drill one hole for a dowel later).
The vertical support is off-center to allow space for the wires to pop out of the endplate hole:



The triangular gusset is centered, though.

I ran a section of buswire under the extension with Anderson powerpole connectors on one side and U-prongs on the other (after about a 2' length of wire) to connect to either a DC powerpack or DCC panel.
Caulked some pink foam strips on either side to create some low landforms to both prevent cars from falling the 666 scale feet to the concrete as well as give me more "test diorama" to try out different scenery techniques:



[You can see the bus & suitcase connectors for the feeder wires at the bottom of that picture]

The turnout I found in the parts bin that I made probably three years ago when I was just starting out back in the hobby, so needed to refurbish it a bit.
Spray painted the "main" grimy black while the siding is "rail brown": never used that before, and seems a bit too brown. We'll see.

I just put down a layer of the "new" dirt my son & I found this last weekend, as well as some old dirt, gravel, and ballasted the tracks.
After it dries I'll post some more picts.

Also "built" a small hill out of scrap foam & caulked it down:



[Even after benchwork is completed, your drill and circular saw come in handy!]

I'm guessing I'll carve about 80%-90% away to create a gentle hill (it'll look taller, too, as the surrounding foam will be carved to slope down & the stream goes next to it), but my experience with the mountains of Mt. Coffin taught me it's easier to get the foam in way taller than you think at the beginning, because you can always carve it down faster than adding foam can cure.

And a video showing off my curves with a lovely Spielbergian crane shot dropping down into the extension:

//www.youtube.com/embed/8TxLd4swuRk?wmode=opaque

Thanks for looking.   

Energy

MC, you have just to much energy. Outstanding work, well done.

Roy